“If we can change one kid’s life, the mission is accomplished. Because that one kid could change a generation, could change a culture. That’s the idea.”
Former Wisconsin quarterback Russell Wilson described how he brought his Russell Wilson Passing Academy camp to Camp Randall Stadium Saturday with the goal of trying to make a difference in the lives of the kids he worked with.
Over 300 kids had the opportunity to meet and receive training from Wilson at the camp, working on the fundamentals of football. The Passing Academy focused on more than just throwing the ball, and the kids received hands-on coaching in many facets of the game from current and former coaches and players.
Wilson uses this opportunity to teach kids lessons that span beyond football.
“I tell them, dreams come true when you capitalize on opportunities,” Wilson said. “My dreams starting coming true when I was a young kid, by my work ethic, and God just gifted me. I wasn’t the best student in the world. I had to really work for my grades, and really pay attention and sit up in the front of the classroom. Those are the type of things we talk about, but also obviously football too.”
He raved about being back in Madison and on the field at Camp Randall. When he stepped out on the field to meet the kids, the first thing he talked about when he secured his megaphone was “The University of Wisconsin, one of the best places in America.”
When he later spoke with the media, Wilson reminisced about his time in Madison and the impact it had on his life.
“It’s a certain unity we have here at the University of Wisconsin,” Wilson said. “I was only here for six months. I was here from July 1 to January 1. I felt like I was here for six years. I really love this school, the education here, the football program. I love everything about it.”
While he was back on campus, he used his time to pick the brain of another recently successful Wisconsin sports legend.
“I got to chat it up with [Wisconsin basketball head coach] Bo Ryan yesterday for a long time, and I was just spending time with him and his beautiful wife. They’re great people,” Wilson said. “That’s why I came here. I came here for the people, I came here for the atmosphere, I came here for the football, and also most importantly I came here for the education. It’s all correlated.”
Wilson came here in 2011 for the people on campus, and in 2015 he returned once again for the people, the children. A few hundred young boys and girls appeared to be having the time of their lives as they threw passes on the same field Wilson did, four short years ago.
He left the members of the media with one last phrase that captured his feelings about the camp, the kids, the city, and the school: “On Wisconsin.”
